The present invention relates generally to form/fill/seal processes and packaging machines. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices for transporting flexible film pouches, filled with fluid, and loading the pouches into containers.
It is known to house fluid in plastic containers created from polymeric film. These fluid filled containers can be created using form/fill/seal processes and apparatus. Advances in the development of polymeric films, plastic bag making, and packaging machines capable of form/fill/seal processes have brought about the development of a fluid product packaging system referred to as a "bag-in-box."
The "bag-in-box" packaging system has proven to be especially efficient and economical for pouches, bags, or sacks filled with products of a fluidic nature. The fluid is typically withdrawn from the bag by means of a tap, a metering device, pump, pour spout or the like.
In systems employed today for bag-in-box packaging, whether they be with pre-manufactured bags or produced in a form/fill/seal process, a pillow-shaped plastic film bag is filled with fluid, closed, and then discharged onto a conveyor or chute. The next operation requires that the bag be loaded into its secondary package (box) for palletizing or loading into a tertiary package or "shipper" for palletizing.
Significant dimensional changes must take place in order for a fluid filled bag to assume a relaxed position in a box. There are a number of devices which are utilized in the bag-in-box industry today which depend upon either a substantial manual effort, vacuum pick-ups, or require the dropping of the bags into an elevated chute where the velocity of the bag upon entering the box causes some reshaping of the bag to the box. These type of devices, as stated, either require manual assistance to locate the bag accurately or the box must be substantially oversized to allow for the loading. These systems are not entirely satisfactory from a process and/or economic standpoint.
There is therefore a need for an apparatus and process for transporting and loading fluid filled bag into containers (boxes).